It's such a
by fantasticalfailure
Summary: the truth about Justin Russo and Alex Russo.
1. Chapter 1

It's such a fucked up situation.

We didn't choose each other, no one chooses. But, I wish I had more tact in the beginning. I really did want it to be Mason, you know.

Still, I never get what I want. Not anymore.

It's been three and a half months since we've heard from mom and dad. Max wrote us a letter two months ago that he, too, was going to run away, as he had plans to moonlight as a circus ballerina while gathering followers for some elaborate heist in the future—who knows—I wasn't really paying attention to the rest of the letter. _Nothing_ from mom and dad.

Can you really forget your own children? Can you hate them enough to forget?

I miss mom's no magic rule. I know—what the fuck, right?—but when you actually pursue the world of teens-raising-teens it stops being so glamorous. Justin and I get by, but we have to practically abuse the people around us.

Justin's a little trigger happy now. He uses magic to close the refrigerator. He's gotten pretty intimately involved with mind control spells too. I never saw him as the villain.

I kind of always figured that would be my thing.

For now I'm pretty much the housemaid. It's funny how we both became foils of our former selves in the aftermath. And here I thought love meant being exactly who you are.

Justin likes to leave a mess, I think it makes him feel validated. Like, fuck mom, we don't need her to clean up our shit. We have Alex. And, fuck you too dad, for telling me I can't pop your daughter's cherry.

Okay—he hasn't become _that_ vulgar yet—but I just know it's coming. He's a regular Stanley Kowalski. At least in all the ways that turn you on when you watch Marlon Brando.

Actually right now I think he's at the guitar shop across the street. He kept talking about getting a job there after we moved to this apartment, but I guess they're not hiring. Or they just hired someone new, he mentioned Felicity, I don't know. I tune him out sometimes—he's still my annoyingly smart brother, even if we make out after we fight.

Speaking of that for a minute—it's such a fucked up situation.

I really didn't even think he liked me back, but then he started getting wood when we had tickle fights, and I knew he wasn't _that_ sensitive. Of course, he opened the argument about _why_ I noticed his hard-ons, and things kind of spiraled from there. I think Max knew from the beginning, but he had other things on his mind. Probably the world domination thing or whatever he mentioned in the letter…

Was it world domination? I think he limited it to the wizard world. Yeah, okay, that's fine then.

I can still remember how it all started. It's such a fucked up situation, but still…

(( If you like it, please review! Hopefully I'll get a couple reviewers so I can post the first chapter later today. : D This is kind of a narration type chapter. Just setting it all up, letting you know the ending so we can focus on how they get to this point, rather than the end point at all. I love Jalex, but I can't help but feel like there's not enough honesty in the unnatural relationship. I want to imagine how it would really affect their lives. Okay, done rambling. ))


	2. Pet Names

(( This takes place during the episode 'Max's Secret Girlfriend. ))

Part of me came up with it because I really wanted him to look at me that way.

It was so obvious that I almost didn't think of it. Harper probably would have eventually suggested it, but I felt a rush from demanding him myself.

"_Oh, ok! Justin and I can use a spell to make each other ancient. You know, like how mom and dad look_."

I saw right through his hesitation. There was a brief smile that I caught, something simple and yet so _Justin_ that it nearly made my heart stop, and I knew I was doing something wrong. But, did I care?

Not enough.

* * *

><p>"Okay, are you sure you're going to be able to do this Alex?"<p>

"Me? Aren't you the one who's against this?"

We stood across from each other, almost yelling. This was a typical scene between us, but something about this time made me feel dizzy. I kept blinking to clear my vision but every time I would see Justin and my stomach would drop. I couldn't tell if it was anger or lust.

Of course, it _had_ to be anger.

"When's the next time Max will ever get a girlfriend? She's just as filthy as he is! It's perfect!"

This time I was shouting.

"That's not a very nice thing to say about her, she seems like a nice girl." His face switched from angry to indignant as he furrowed his brows in his classic fashion.

"Justin you've never met her!" He really hadn't.

"Fine."

"What?"

"Fine, I'll help you."

He really had shocked me, which is hard to do. Not because I didn't think he would agree, but because he had agreed and now I didn't know what to do next. In my dreams this played out differently.

Sometimes I wondered how the hell we were related.

"But I'm not going to do this half way, Alex, do you hear me? We are going to commit to this. I don't know if you know, but I've done a bit of acting." He fluffed the front collar of his shirt, grinning in satisfaction of himself.

"Oh god," I rolled my eyes. I'm always doing that to him, I swear. "What does that mean?"

"It means," he stressed the words, rocking back on his heels, "that we have to do some rehearsing before we can put on a show." Justin smirked.

"Do you ever get sick of being the only one gloating over your plans?"

He cleared his throat, slightly frowning. "Alex, behave yourself."

"Aha! See? There. You can't boss me around. Not if we're _married_."

Justin made a pained expression, though I was never sure in the end if it really was pain or satisfaction.

"Okay,okay, you're right. I won't boss you around."

"You can't do that anways." I laughed the way he loves it, the way he told me he loved it a few months after meeting Max's girlfriend disguised as our parents.

He pouted.

My god I love it when he pouts.

"We need to focus," he pulled out his wand, "Alex, you can't be mean to me. That means no playing pranks while we're in disguise."

"Aww, man. Way to kill the whole mood, Justin."

I always thought he found me endearing, that he liked my sarcasm. Was I even right?

"I have an idea!" He suddenly said, holding up a finger triumphantly.

"What is it?" I made it a point to sound bored, like I always do when Justin tries to fix a situation.

"_For two who's souls are torn apart_

_Make these two souls a single heart_ !"

It was such a clever idea, now that I know his intentions back then. I didn't even have enough time to process the spell before we were standing in the living room of a house that resembled our own, but seemed to float by itself in a vast empty space. Justin had frozen time around us and now we were stuck here until his spell felt satisfied.

Later on that became our idea of foreplay, but that didn't happen until months later.

"Great, now what are we supposed to do?" I scowled.

"We have to get along. We can't leave until we do." He sounded confident but I knew his nervous face.

"Well that's really specific," I mocked him instinctively.

"Alex, start taking this seriously." Justin said sternly.

"You're telling me what to do! Oh my god," I pointed a finger at him accusingly. "We're going to be stuck here forever because of you!"

He suddenly looked panicked, and then he pocketed his wand, wordlessly taking a seat on the couch and folding his arms across his chest. He looked up at me with his cheshire cat grin.

"What are you doing?" I yelled.

"Getting comfortable. Like you said, we'll be here forever. It's like we're _married_." He smirked at his words, trying to subtly glance around them though it was stupidly obvious to Alex.

"Nothing's gonna happen Justin!" I reached out and smacked the side of his head. He was always hoping for the easiest option first. Can't say I blame him. "It's gonna take more than that to break your stupid spell."

"Fine," he looked disappointed. "Let's watch some TV. Married people do that."

"TV?" I brightened. It was my weak spot. "Sure. Move over."

I loved bossing him around back then.

"Uhh," he had his pointed look, the one he gets whenever he knows something I don't. "Married people share the couch. You have to sit next to me."

"Ew," I pretended to gag. But, really though, I had been terrified he could see the steam rising from my skin.

I sat next to him, at first it was a slow and awkward thing. We both looked at each other as though it were an accident we were siblings. I thought Justin was acting. Maybe he was.

"Stop checking me out." I finally broke the silence.

"I'm just trying to really _grasp_ my character."

"Oh my god Justin, it's not that serious."

But it was, wasn't it?

"You look uncomfortable. Max's girlfriend is not going to believe us if you look uncomfortable. I refuse to act next to someone with no skill." Justin crossed his arms, pouting.

I wish he had a different face. Different eyes. Different expressions.

"Okay, well mister expert, tell me how to fix it." I knew he liked it when I asked him for help. That's half the reason I was so sarcastic to him back then.

"Here, come closer…" He lifted his arm up and waited for me to fit underneath it. We'd fallen asleep like that before, so I didn't see the harm in snuggling up to him. It wasn't enough for Justin, though. He lifted my chin up with his hand, looking directly at me.

"Now, smile." He grinned.

I tried my best to hide the hunger.

"Alex…" He suddenly whispered my name. My heartbeat was louder than the sound.

"What?" It was earnest.

"We need pet names."

He broke into a smirk.


	3. Justin's POV

I knew as soon as I said the words that I shouldn't have. It didn't even call for anything that extreme. But, I always like to be the best at what I do, and Alex would be none the wiser. This wouldn't be the first time, anyways.

God, I am a monster. If Dad knew what power he'd given his son the day he taught us McReary Time Reary, he'd have never bothered to teach us magic at all.

Still.

Sometimes I feel like she wants it too. She has to. I never used mind control on her. But Alex is younger than me, and she's a lot more complicated sometimes, so I'm sparing her. Besides, she has Mason.

We never talk about him, though. I don't know if she does that on purpose.

"We need pet names."

I had to think of something quick to say. Her eyes… They're like fucking sunbeams. Excuse my French.

"Oh, my god Justin, you're so lame!" She slaps me across the arm, but I'm used to it. Sometimes I flex when she does that – only half to impress her, half to dull the smarting pain. She doesn't hold back.

But that's why we're like this. Alex Russo never holds back.

"I'm serious! Mom and dad have pet names for each other. That's what married people _do_."

"You mean besides avoid each other all the time and make up excuses to sleep in separate beds?" Alex laughs at her joke, but I'm not gonna find it funny.

I'm gonna stare at her until she stops laughing, because that's the best way I deal with her cynicism.

"That's not what marriage is, you're such a child." I said the words before I thought; much like the spell I cast on us. Alex instantly frowned, crossing her arms. This seemed to always strike a nerve with her – demeaning her age – but it got her to stop messing around. She held her silence for another minute, probably hoping I'd get frustrated, but instead I started listing off pet names out loud.

"Sweetums, pumpkin face, chipmunk cheeks…"

"Hey!"

"What?"

"Don't call me chipmunk cheeks. I don't have chipmunk cheeks." Alex sulked.

"Well you don't have a pumpkin face either."

"No I don't!—Oh, yeah, whatever." Alex uncrossed her arms, clearly expecting the insults to continue. Not that I had been trying to insult her at all, but she's a gem at reading between lines that aren't even there.

I'm trying to come up with something to say, something to change the subject or subdue her defenses. Anything to get Alex to…

"Justin." She says my name like it's as small as she is compared to me.

"What?" Wow, I sound way more sensitive in my head than I do out loud.

"What if Max never gets a girlfriend?" She looked genuinely bothered.

"That's not going to happen. He'll have girls lining up, don't worry about him." I reached my arm over her shoulders to squeeze her against me, gently rubbing the wooly material of her sweater as she curled up to me. I loved feeling like her last hope; she held on to me like that every time.

"Yeah, but what if he never gets the _right_ girl? Like, what if he just keeps dating all these people but none of them are right?"

I had to ponder this question a moment. Was she even talking about Max? Alex had a lot of wonderful quirks, but thinking of others without any reason wasn't one of them.

"Max will meet the right girl. We all meet our soul mate." I tried to sound confident.

"Have you met yours?"

Her question startled me.

"Of course. Juliet." I couldn't help but say it.

Alex suddenly stood, pushing my arm off her shoulders. "Okay, this is too mushy for me," she said in her classic Alex-tells-a-joke voice, laughing.

"Fine, back to work. We need to come up with pet names." My heart was racing. Why did she stand up? The spot where she formerly was burned with a strange coldness.

"_No_ Justin, we need to find a way to get out of this spell."

I looked up at her, trying to study her face, wondering how it was that we shared no likeness in features. Just the color of our hair. And even then, Alex's brown was the kind men fought wars over, and mine was useless without WizHairgel.

"Which starts with assigning pet names. The sooner we get along, the sooner this spell will be broken."

Was I right? I hoped so. The only problem is that, when I said the spell, I wasn't exactly thinking of _getting along_ as the end goal…


End file.
